>Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton was on Capitol Hill today to unveil the 2005-2006 Federal Duck Stamp, which features two versions expected to be highly popular with collectors as well as conservationists. The event, which featured new Federal Artist Mark Anderson and many members of Congress, was held to mark the first day that the public can buy the new wetlands conservation stamp.
The $15 Federal Duck Stamp is a required yearly purchase for waterfowl hunters and has also become popular with birdwatchers, stamp collectors and others seeking to make a difference for conservation. The Duck Stamp, officially known as the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, also serves as a pass to any National Wildlife Refuge open to the public.
Nearly 98 cents out of every dollar raised goes directly to acquire important migratory bird habitat for the National Wildlife Refuge System. Since the programs inception in 1934, sales of Federal Duck Stamps have generated more than $700 million that has been used to acquire and protect more than 5.2 million acres of habitat.
"Every person who buys a duck stamp becomes an important partner in conservation. Those seemingly small purchases have added up to a great work of stewardship -- one stamp, one purchase, one acre at a time," said Secretary Norton.
Duck Stamp funds have been used to purchase land for hundreds of refuges in nearly every state in the nation, preserving habitat that supports hundreds of species of waterfowl and other migratory birds, as well as countless additional species of fish and wildlife, including threatened and endangered species.
Secretary Norton noted that the recent rediscovery of the Ivory Billed Woodpecker, which was thought to be extinct for more than sixty years, was made this year on refuge land purchased with Federal Duck Stamp dollars. Duck Stamp funds were used to conserve thousands of acres of wetlands and associated habitat at Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Arkansas.
The 2005-2006 Federal Duck Stamp features a pair of hooded mergansers painted by South Dakota wildlife artist Mark Anderson. Andersons painting bested 223 other entries to win the 2004 Federal Duck Stamp Art Competition last October. Anderson is a self-taught artist who began painting in 1980 as a hobby and gave up a career in marketing to paint full-time in 1993. Since then, he has won numerous awards for his work, including several state conservation stamp competitions.
For the first time in the programs history, the Fish and Wildlife Service will offer the public a choice of two versions of the 2005-2006 stamp.
The Duck Stamp is available in a self-adhesive version that features modern lithography and a philatelic first. The self-adhesive stamps incorporate a process known as stamp debossing in which parts of the image are recessed to provide a textured feel. The 2005-2006 Federal Duck Stamp is the first stamp ever issued by the federal government using this printing technique.
The new Duck Stamp is also available in a water-activated gum version that features substantial intaglio printing, a traditional technique that requires engraving on a metal plate to raise the ink on the printed surface. U.S. currency, for example, is printed using the intaglio printing process, but the technique is now seldom used on stamps of any kind because of the degree of difficulty and expense involved.
Todays ceremony also marked the first day of sale for the Federal Junior Duck Stamp, which features a beautiful painting of a pair of ring-necked ducks painted by 17 year-old Wisconsin high-school student Kerissa Nelson.
Proceeds from the sales of the $5 Junior Duck Stamp go towards the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program and provide for a small scholarship for the contest winner and top placers. The Program is a dynamic arts curriculum designed to teach wetlands and waterfowl conservation to students in kindergarten through high school.
Both versions of the Federal Duck Stamp were printed by Banknote Corporation of America. Banknote has printed the Federal Duck Stamp three of the past four years.
For more information, please see the Duck Stamp Office web site at www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/bulletin/2005/pb22155.pdf. Federal Duck Stamps and Duck Stamp related products such as the press sheets, Artist Cards, ceremony programs, and First Day covers are available through the U.S. Postal Service and Amplex Corporation. For more information, contact the U.S. Postal Service at or 1-800-852-4897.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
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